1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling blanket for use in connection with a blanket. The cooling blanket has particular utility in connection with a cooling blanket to provide the user selective control of the temperature of the blanket.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cooling blankets are desirable for providing a cool covering as during sleep to provide comfort. Cooling blankets are used on surgical patients that need their core temperature lowered, in the case of burns victims to cool the affected area, and to cool those suffering with a fever. Cooling blankets can also be used in the stead of air conditioning, and can be used to reduce night sweats. A need exists for a simple cooling blanket that does not require heat exchangers or support equipment.
The use of a blanket is known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,433 to Cahn et al discloses an individual comfort control device that has a blanket with internal ducts through which heat transfer foam is pumped to an external heat exchanger that is connected to the blanket ducts. However, the Cahn et al ""433 blanket does not provide a blanket having individual pockets for placing heat sinks and does not provide a thermoelectric cooling unit as a heat sink.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,262 to Wibell discloses a heating and cooling blanket that has heating elements for heating the blanket and cooling tubes that carry heat transfer fluid to an external heat exchanger. However, the Wibell ""262 patent does not provide a blanket having individual pockets for placing heat sinks and does not provide a thermoelectric cooling unit as a heat sink.
Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,566 to Abare discloses a body wrap that supports a hot or cold pack in close proximity to a wearer""s anatomy. The Abare ""566 patent does not disclose a blanket having individual pockets for placing heat sinks and does not provide a thermoelectric cooling unit as a heat sink.
While the above-described devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a cooling blanket that allows a cooling blanket to provide the user selective control of the temperature of the blanket. The Cahn et al ""433, Wibell ""262 and Abare ""566 patents makes no provision for providing a blanket having individual pockets for placing heat sinks and does not provide a thermoelectric cooling unit as a heat sink.
Therefore, a need exists for a new and improved cooling blanket that can be used for a cooling blanket to provide the user selective control of the temperature of the blanket. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need. In this respect, the cooling blanket according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of a cooling blanket to provide the user selective control of the temperature of the blanket.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of a blanket now present in the prior art, the present invention provides an improved cooling blanket, and overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a new and improved cooling blanket and method which has all the advantages of the prior art mentioned heretofore and many novel features that result in a cooling blanket which is not anticipated, rendered obvious, suggested, or even implied by the prior art, either alone or in any combination thereof.
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a cooling blanket having multiple pockets to contain heat sinks with heat sinks provided in the pockets, the heat sinks being either a thermoelectric cooling unit or a cold pack.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
The invention may also include a temperature controller for the thermoelectric cooling unit, a power cord, a power source, an attachable edge and a power junction. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In this respect, before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cooling blanket that has all of the advantages of the prior art a blanket and none of the disadvantages.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved cooling blanket that may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved cooling blanket that has a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such cooling blanket economically available to the buying public.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new cooling blanket that provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a provide a cooling blanket that can be used instead of air conditioning.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling blanket that can be used to help reduce temperature due to fever.
Still even another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling blanket that can be used for reducing night sweats.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling blanket that can be used by hospitals to reduce core body temperature of patients requiring this procedure.
Even yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling blanket that can be used to provide greater comfort for the user while sleeping.
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a cooling blanket that can be used for reducing hot flashes.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.